Inbreeding question

[emilythestrange]

If I have a rooster and 4 hens. And the rooster was from x place and 2 hens were from y place and the other two were from z place (miles and miles apart)
If I had chicks from these original 5 chickens and they were hens - Could they mate with the original rooster and produce ? Therefore only keeping 1 rooster and any subsequent hens he produces ?
Or Would the chicks be too inbred ?

 

[TSP]

I don’t know what the “correct” answer is, but I have been line breeding the same rooster to his sisters, daughters and grand daughters for several generations. I have seen absolutely no I’ll effects as of yet…. I really don’t know how long this can be carried on and have been wondering the same thing as you. I can assure you though, that you won’t have genetic defects show up in one generation of line breeding. You can find plenty of information on the google about the benefits of line breeding in fowl.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Could they mate with the original rooster and produce ? Therefore only keeping 1 roost
and any subsequent hens he produces
Or Would the chicks be too inbred ?

This is a way that people on small farms have been managing chickens for thousands of years. You keep one rooster and several hens and save replacement of additional pullets to add to the flock. In a few years, say three or four, keep one of his sons to become the new flock master, who them breeds with his mother, aunts, sisters, half-sisters, and cousins. Then do it again.

A few keys to this. If some don't meet your goals or prove in some way prove defective don't let them breed. Only keep and breed your best stock. Do not feel sorry for some special needs chicken. That can be hard for some people.

At some point you will need to bring in some new blood for genetic diversity reasons, they can get too inbred. The more chickens you have the longer you can go without bringing in that new blood. I don't have any set number of generations for that. Dad would go for maybe 4 to 5 generations before he brought in new blood to mix with the old, but he had one rooster and 25 to 30 hens.